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Thank you. I agree. However, I watch a lot (wife would say too much) hockey w/ my kid at Michigan covering. On the whole, I think Providence is best. They are like Yale but slightly better in most areas, even in others. I'll be there for Q so we'll see if we've closed the gap on them. St. Cloud is good - really good. Best O in country is Michigan - no one even close. They can rip off 3,5 goals in a hurry. The top 3 in ECAC can make Frozen Four, no doubt. Best teams are still in the East with the exception of the 2 above, which is why it gets kinda frustrating with the PWR. Granted this could be taken care of if East schools would consistently play a couple of early OOC games with West schools. But they always end up being on the road, which seems like they could do a home and home. Anyway, they'll be plenty of noise in March.
I went to the Yale PVD game and thought Yale matched up pretty well with them, they should have won the game but tired in the third. Yale is also playing much better now than they were back then. Walman was the difference against Yale.
Yes - I was there as well. Yale scored 2 off 5 min major & were a little chippy IMHO, a sign they were in some trouble, similar to what I saw from Harvard. I thought they out cycled us early 3rd & got the 2 and we really had one decent chance from there when Wittek's shot rang the post. I agree that this team is playing MUCH better now & the forecheck reappearing is a really good sign.
It's really just the "eye test" at this point that I am pointing to. I've watched them play several times and granted, they have kinda been coasting along lately, not playing great. But they still look like the best team, just a little bit better than Yale. Now, who's actually PLAYING BETTER lately? No question, Yale is. And, as such, they are a legit title threat. In fact, even last year, I thought they were except the committee didn't stick to normal PWR seedings & Providence ended up well - in Providence - where Yale should have been & would have matched up perfectly with the teams in that bracket. Instead we got BU - the one team that I didn't want them to get in the opening round. Oh well.
Again, it's just based on what I see. I just don't see Q as head and shoulders above the rest. Are they a #1 seed? Definitely. But, I've seen St. Cloud. They're really good. Not sold on NoDak. I will say I haven't seen that much of BC. I did see they in the romp vs PC, but I turned it off. Next game - the tie - was more representative. Still, it was like the tie WE had with BC in 2013. That night, I thought we pretty much dominated them & just didn't know how to win that type of game yet. Same with when we got smoked by QU at Ingalls. I turned to the person next to me and said, "The better team lost tonight, 6-2." He thought I was crazy, but I knew what I saw.
Yale's got a ton of heart. I love this team. And like you said, they are improving. They are beginning to forecheck. They are rolling 2 legit lines, soon to be 3. And they are a threat. Allain needs to line up a few more out of conference games vs. West teams in the future. It makes a big difference in PWR & seeding. East teams just get punished if they don't play a couple of early ones vs. West. Witness BC. They played CC & Denver and they are pretty much a lock for a 1 seed. We're struggling to keep a 3. It isn't right.
I mean, as I stated on this board, the trend has been East since 2008 and IMHO, shows little sign of changing now. Again, I think St. Cloud is really good. 1st pretty complete, fast team I've seen from the West in a while. With the exception of 2010-11 when Yale WAS best team & just didn't know how to win & got wiped out by MN-Duluth, that trend has held. I suspect it will again this year. If ECAC got respect it deserves, Clarkson would be higher in PWR & probably fighting with Penn St. on the bubble. And the teams that finish 1-2-3 would get 1-2-3 seeds in the tourney.
Instead, there's Minny from an atrocious Big 10 laying there again. And UM, playing in said terrible conference, will probably pretty much run the table & get a 1, at worst a 2 - with their biggest "quality" wins being a split with BU, Penn St. & Minny. St Cloud was just like we are. Went on the road to Hamden, saw them, & they played poorly. But I saw their firepower, and have since then on TV - which I wasn't expecting. So I like them - a lot.
I think Yale should be a 2. Q 1, Yale 2, Harvard 3 & maybe one other ECAC team as a 4 if they make a run in the tourney (but probably won't happen). They are definitely better than they were last year, when I still thought given the right bracket they could make Frozen Four. This time, I think they can win no matter where they are placed.
Just saying based on my unscientific "eye test", talent wise, they are a shade behind PC, St. Cloud, Q, BC. I think they're better than the other teams in the Top 10 (although granted, I've only watched ND maybe 1 or 2 times this year) & I'm still not 100% sold on Q (don't get me wrong, they're great, but it's the same team as they've been before, nothing new, whereas I think with Snively, P, the emergence of Hayden, etc. Yale is different - and much improved. So I hold judgement here.).
They just need to stay healthy, get guys back, into the flow & they've got a totally legit shot. Esp with Lyon between the pipes
Yes - lucky to avoid the big letdown. Team knows how to win. Unlike bball team who played awful. Oh well. 2 more wins I say they're in - esp if they get the Q game. After that it's for seeding. Seems to me like 2 is our lucky number. Solid 2 in ECAC, 2 more wins, looking like a 2 seed.